2022-11-27: We Have to Stop Meeting Like This
- Cast: Riika Sheder, Rena Lancaster, Anita Rosetta, Eight York
- Where: Frontier Zone
- Date: U.C. 0096 11 27
- Summary: On a patrol, the Ra Mari's crew finds a disabled ZAFT Mobile Suit. They rescue Riika Sheder, and find out that there is much more behind the events of Operation Spitbreak than they thought.
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
The Frontier Zone is one of the most dangerous places near to the Earth Sphere - not for war reasons (anymore) but simply because of debris, space junk, and (in several sectors) damaged and possibly still dangerous war equipment.
During the One Year War, this place became a scrap graveyard, and attempts to clean it up have been fitful and localized. Some sectors are clear...ish. Others still have big chunks of metal, some of which are electrically charged.
Near one of the most dangerous sectors, an SOS signal activated.
It wasn't an old signal. Most of the debris up here was from the One Year War, or only a few years later; this one is fresh and new and wasn't there last week. It seemed to be broadcast from a more powerful source than the average emergency pod had available: an actual mobile suit, a damaged ship or station, something large and with actual communications gear. But apparently not two-way, because it did not respond to any attempts to hail it back.
Many Spacenoids make a point of retrieving any emergency signal, because the life you save in space might be your own. But this one, so close to the danger zone, is easy to go unnoticed. There's not a lot of traffic here, except for military ships on a direct route and the occasional junker, scrapper, or Vulture.
There's one other curiosity about this emergency beacon: it's moving. Not enormously fast, but it apparently started from *inside* the shoal zone and has only recently drifted out. It doesn't appear to be under thrust, simply progressing in the direction it was already going at the speed it was already going.
From a distance, the item emitting the signal seems to be a large chunk of metal. It looks like a ruined part of a ship or space station, but not large enough to be a colony; several times larger than a mobile suit, jagged, irregularly shaped. It's hard to see more from far away.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
The Frontier Shoal Zone is a dangerous place to be. With all that debris, it's a veritable obstacle course. Anita, thankfully, is a talented pilot. The Messiah Rosetta zips through the debris fields in Fighter Mode. It's important to have a patrol out in a situation like this, where even a ship like the Ra Mari needs to take some amount of care when traversing the debris field.
Anita doesn't mind the difficulty. She's not much one for competition, but she does enjoy putting her abilities to the test. That's why she's out ahead - and that may be why she's the first one to pick up the signal. Suddenly, Anita's Variable Fighter comes to a stop. It transforms, going into GERWALK mode for maneuverability.
"Hey, Rena, check your systems... You picking that up too?" Anita asks. "Is that... an SOS? I'm gonna get closer."
She adjusts her course, following the SOS. The signal intensfies gradually, until she comes upon the apparent source. It's big - much larger than a mobile suit, maybe part of a ship or space station... Anita flips on her external speakers.
"Hey, is everyone alright in there? We got your signal - just hold on tight!" Anita says. She flips back to private communications.
"You're seeing this too, right, Eight? What do you think? Anita asks.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
A distress signal isn't something to ignore.
Rena knows this to her core. It's a law for spacenoids. Her YF-25A Prophecy takes through space, flying amidst the wreckage of the Frontier Shoal Zone -- flying alongside Anita's Messiah. The Prophecy, in fighter mode, shoots around a piece of colony.
Then she blinks, when Anita speaks -- and hers, too, shifts into GERWALK mode. The leg thrusters fire to slow it. "It is. It's--the reading on my sensors show it's not one from the One Year War. We better go."
She takes off after Anita, sending another transmission back: "Ra Mari, we've got an SOS. Ensign Rosetta and I are en route."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
An SOS...
Eight York is currently on the bridge of her ship, overlooking the displays thoughtfully. Not a lot is happening right now, but it's better on a patrol like this--especially with this much debris--for her to be available should anything happen. That turns out to be a good thing.
"Hmmm... Astelian," Eight says, "What do we have on our sensors?"
"...That's the signal I've been trying to trace. It's a distress signal, all right--the debris was covering it up before..."
Eight nods, and then says over the comms to her pilots, "Be careful," she says, "But bring it in," Eight answers Anita and Rena both. There's been traps that started this way out here before, but...
All the same, they're not going to ignore an SOS.
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
The chunk of metal gently tumbles through space. It doesn't respond to approaching suits or hails.
It makes it halfway through a rotation before it's possible to see what's *actually* signaling the SOS: it's a dull grey - unpainted? - mobile suit, or the ruins of one, stuck on several of the jagged outcroppings of the metal debris and pinned in place.
The mobile suit has suffered intense battle damage. Bullet holes, beam blasts; it has only about half of one arm, no legs, and only one of a folding gun that it keeps on its hips, but missing limbs don't cause a MS to shut down. No, it's entirely clear what has 'killed' this machine: an explosion in the middle of its back, which has blackened and warped the metal. The explosion didn't come from inside the suit - it looks like it had a backpack which either took a missile or simply exploded itself. It's a minor miracle anyone could trigger an SOS after that.
It's also about to get really awkward because the suit still has its head, and the head - with a large triangular fin and a single 'eye' camera - is absolutely not a Federation design. ZAFT deploys units like that.
A trap is not impossible... but there seems to be nothing around. Just a ZAFT unit, left for dead.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita can attest to the importance of responding to SOS signals. After all, she's only still around today because someone responded to one in the past. That might explain her eagerness to look into the situation - an eagerness which is tempered somewhat when Eight reminds her to be careful.
"Yeah, gotcha." Anita replies with a nod. There's no response, so she brings her VF in closer. As she moves, the object before her continues its rotations - and as it does, she finally sees the source.
It's... a mobile suit.
"It's a mobile suit. ...Looks like it's been through hell and back." Anita comments with a frown. ...Is it even possible that the pilot could have survived...? And then, she spots the head. A large triangular fin and a single eye camera...
"Looks to be of ZAFT make." Anita comments. She only hesitates for a second before moving in. "It's pinned in there pretty good - I'm gonna get it unstuck, Rena. Be ready to catch it."
The Messiah Rosetta moves in, trying to carefully remove some of the debris pinning it in place so that Rena can grab the suit itself.
I don't understand that.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Roger that, Ra Mari," Rena says. Her VF begins to approach the piece of debris. "Let's be careful, Annie..."
She comes in closer -- and she sees what it is. Her breath catches.
"A ZAFT suit..."
Rena says it, her voice a near whisper. There is a spike of fear through her. It occurs to her that this is a Coordinator, too; someone like her. She could have been in that suit, if her life had taken a different turn of events. Other get of Project Sigyn could be in PLANT, even now.
But in a way, that doesn't matter. She would have come to the rescue, no matter who it is.
"Got it, Annie," Rena says. She watches as the Messiah moves in -- and changes her machine to Battroid mode. It stows the gun pod. And after Anita wrenches it free and gives it a shove, Rena's Battroid grabs hold with both hands. Once she does, she activates speakers -- ones built into the VF's hands.
For exactly this situation, to use their touching machines as a medium for sound.
"ZAFT pilot, we're bringing you somewhere safe," she says. She hesitates. "This is Lieutenant Lancaster, with Londo Bell. We'll make sure you're safe. If you're able, can you send confirmation you're alive and well?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
It's always a risk. Everything out here is.
"A single damaged mobile suit..." Eight listens, and considers it. A ZAFT suit, in particular. Well...
"Whatever it comes from, we're not leaving them out here. We'll just keep our eyes open."
"Hangar," Eight says over the radio on the ship meanwhile, "Be prepared to accept one damaged mobile suit. I'll be down there to receive it. Have security nearby, but don't bring them into the hangar yet."
She doesn't want to spook this ZAFT pilot--but she has to be prepared if they're hostile. Hopefully, it'll be a needless precaution...
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
The ZAFT suit can't transmit anything by radio but the lonely, repetitive sound of the beacon.
But it can speak when Rena gets her hands up on it. Riika sits up straight in the cockpit, jolted back to full alertness - without any way to see outside, she legitimately had no idea anyone was approaching the suit until Anita started to shift around the machine in a way that transmitted motion to her. Did it actually *work*? Is that -
Riika raises her voice as loud as it will go. It's not as loud as it ordinarily could be; her throat is dry and she's not exactly feeling her best, having put life support down to the minimum to stretch it as long as possible. She still, somehow, manages to sound incredulous. "*Rena Lancaster*?"
Of all the people to have had the SOS attract...
"I'm alive, at least. I can't say more than that. I'm going to turn the beacon off," Riika calls, hoping that Rena has some kind of pickup that she can get the vibrations with. "I have one percent power. This thing is crippled. I have a pistol but I swear it's stowed."
She must be either feeling at least a little OK or so badly that she no longer cares what she says, because she adds, "We have got to stop meeting like this."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Slowly, carefully, the mobile suit is freed from the debris. Rena catches it and Anita watches, her breath held for a second, waiting for something to happen - but, when nothing does, she feels some relief. In response to Rena's announcement, the SOS signal switches off. Anita can't catch the vibrations from here, so it's up in the air to her what that means... but, she hopes it's a good sign.
"Everything good?" Anita asks Rena, before getting back to Eight. "We've got it, we're heading back now. Be ready to receive!"
Anita will go on ahead, just a little bit, to provide Rena an escort back to the Ra Mari. They have precious cargo to look after, now - they'll have to be yet more careful on their way back through the debris field.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Th--that's me--" Rena transmits back. It takes her a second to register the voice; at one percent power, in a vastly different circumstance (yet eerily familiar), she doesn't make the connection. "Riika Sheder? Is--is that you in there?"
She laughs a little, though. "I understand. I'll tell the Ra Mari that it'll be okay. Just hold tight, okay?" A beat. "This is two times now, huh?"
She starts flying in -- the thrusters on the Battroid firing to move it along, the orange-and-white VF hurtling after Anita. She sends a transmission to her and Eight. "I know the pilot," she says. "Riika Sheder. She's safe. She says her sidearm is stowed. I... don't know what happened, yet."
They're on the way to find out out, though.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Everything good? Eight wonders, too. But Rena starts to explain, and Eight, already on her way down through the decks, finds herself surprised. "Riika Sheder..."
Eight knows her, too. And she knows someone was hunting her.
"Right. I'll be down there in the hangar to receive you all," she says to Rena and Anita both, at that warning. A beat, as she communicates to others on the ship, "Have the security team stand down. Medical, be ready for possible injuries."
And soon, the hangar will be open; Eight has cleared it of most who would otherwise be present, save for herself and a couple of technicians, plus soon Rena and Anita. When Riika is brought into the hangar, she will have the Captain herself waiting for her when she gets out of her mecha. No guns are trained on her, no security ready to apprehend her.
Just the Captain, who will say, "Are you all right? I have a lot of questions, but they can wait until we determine your status."
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
"...Yes," Riika says. "It's me."
Riika doesn't really have any way to provide assistance to being brought to the ship, or she would. She spends the time making a few adjustments and ensuring some things are stowed.
Eventually, the machine - or its remnants - are placed in the hangar. There is a few moment's delay as Riika struggles with the cockpit airlocks, which are slightly difficult to open one-handed and with the damage to the suit as extensive as it is, but eventually she gets it open.
The *first* thing she does is pull herself out, one-handed, something that's easy in space. The second thing she does is remove her strangely shaped ZAFT helmet, taking a deep breath of less stale-smelling air. She looks horrible; she has a black eye (probably from a high-G turn rather than an impact), she's pale, and her normally floofy hair is crushed down from a combination of nervous sweat and wearing a helmet for too long. Judging by the way she moves she's bruised and stiff all over, and one of her hands is apparently broken because of how she holds it, but she raises the other one in surrender...
Though, there are fewer MPs with guns pointing at her than she'd expect, and she lowers it after a few moments in confusion.
Is she all right? "No," Riika says, voice slightly hoarse as she decides to be completely honest. "I was running the edge of what the life support could handle for a while. I'm very glad you have air that I haven't recycled several more times than I'm supposed to without swapping the suit's filter. I couldn't take very good stock of my condition in there. But I'm well enough to stand and talk, at least. Especially because I owe you my life, and - " She looks around for Rena, and whoever she was piloting with - she couldn't have brought the GuAIZ in alone, even as nearly destroyed as it is.
...It looks worse than she expected. Did she really get back in *that*?
Talking about the pure mechanics of the situation lets her *not* talk about the political or emotional aspect. Riika has said absolutely nothing about how she came to be there, or why ZAFT didn't pick her up.
"One moment, sorry," Riika adds, and then ducks back into her cockpit. A few moments later, and she's back out with her pink-tinted glasses, which she swaps for the heavier, strapped-on piloting visor she had been wearing under her helmet.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Riika Sheder. Anita doesn't know her personally, but she remembers her name, alright - she's the one who gave them all the warning they needed to escape JOSH-A in time. What lead her to this point...? Well, she supposes they'll figure that out sooner or later.
Eventually, they make their way back to the Ra Mari. Anita helps guide Rena in first before flying in herself, carefully setting down in the hangar before returning to Fighter Mode. Anita opens the canopy, removing her helmet and disengaging herself from her EX-Gear(not the proper way to handle it, but she'll take care of that later) before hopping out, hurrying over to the remains of the GuAIZ. Eight is already here and Anita sends her a nod of greeting, turning her attention toward the cockpit as it slowly opens.
"...Oh, geez..." Anita mutters with a grimace, a sympathetic look crossing her face as she sees the state Riika's in. She looks awful, but Anita has enough tact not to say that much right now. She offers a small wave.
"Anita Rosetta. Good on you for holding out for so long... glad we ran across you when we did." She greets. Eight is already checking on her condition, and Anita's a little relieved by that - that's the most important thing right now. Riika ducks back into the cockpit and Anita waits for her to return before continuing. "Do you, uh... need anything specific right now?"
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
After stowing the heavily damaged GuAIZ, Rena lands her Prophecy. The Battroid docks in that mode -- in one of the docking bays for Mobile Suits, at the moment. Rena lowers to the hangar floor with a handheld cable device. She walks over to it, undoing her helmet.
She is there when Riika waves at her. Rena smiles at her. She looks about the same as last time -- short ash blue hair, with a red streak dyed in it, and in much better shape than Riika is.
All told, Rena looks a little worried to see her like that.
She walks up after Eight, standing at the taller woman's side. She looks to the group of technicians and medical staff. "Let Doctor Bidan know he'll have a patient soon," Rena says. She wonders if Riika will recognize the name. "And get some water and something for her to sit on."
She looks at Anita, for a second, and then back to Riika. She smiles, again, when she returns with her glasses. "Anita's a friend of mine," she says. "We'll get you settled, okay? We can get your hand looked at... And anything else."
She wants to ask. She might, in a moment. But, it seems best to give Riika a moment. After all, that entire experience seemed traumatic.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
The honesty is a good approach. It means Riika will get treatment sooner than she otherwise would've.
The mechanics of the situation say a lot; the political and emotional aspects are left to implication. Eight weighs that, for a moment; she has to consider the safety and well-being of her entire crew, not just one person.
...But Riika saved their lives in turn.
"We can worry about the details later," Eight says. "...But I will want to worry about the details later."
The crew follow Rena's orders; one starts off towards Medical, and another brings over a chair, a third gonig to fetch some water. "Looking at you, instead of taking you to Medical I'm bringing the doctor to you, to ensure we don't make anything worse."
"...You can consider us 'even'," Captain York says, "On lives. You saved ours at JOSH-A, too. Now you're aboard the Ra Mari, a ship with Londo Bell. You're not a prisoner, unless you insist on being one. You're a guest and a patient. And we'll re-evaluate that if we have to based on what you have to say. For now, try to relax; we've got a doctor on the way."
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
Riika was trying to look strong in front of the Federation troops. She knows what her position on most Federation ships would be.
But hearing that the Ra Mari, or at least the captain and pilots of the Ra Mari, aren't like that - well, that's a relief. She is certainly going to take the seat - and she needs the water, it's not going to last long at all. At least she doesn't sputter on it. "Thank you," she says. "I know space rescues don't usually go like this. I could use some ibuprofin or something but I can wait for a doctor." Ibuprofin is lowballing it.
They're bringing a doctor to her? That's better treatment than she'd get on the Zuse. If she recognizes the name Rena drops, it doesn't show. Maybe she's just tired; she's certainly tired enough to slump, though she tries to straighten up with a wince when she realizes she's doing it.
"I need - one thing," Riika says, and she sounds somewhere between 'awkward' and 'miserable'. "I know you probably want to send me back to the PLANTs, but... I can't go. I'd appreciate it if you didn't even tell them I was alive."
...
"They're the ones who scrapped this," Riika says, resting her hand on the ruins of the GuAIZ. "I guess it won't fly again." Why does she feel bad about *that*? Sure, it was her suit, one that she'd spent time repairing and modifying and fixing and testing, but it's just a machine. "If they know I'm here, you could be in danger."
She pauses. "More danger. From ZAFT High Command - wait, you're *already* at war with ZAFT. From Britannia, too, if they know." She's rambling, a little, and she knows it. The sheer relief of being rescued combined with the pressures of... all this. "They shot me first."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita meets Rena's gaze when she looks at her, then looks back toward Riika. She nods, when Rena says she's a friend. Rena and Eight get everything situated. There's not much she can do to help with that, but for now being here is good enough. Eight's decision on how to treat Riika is a relief to Anita, too. She looks toward Riika as she starts to speaking, explaining the thing she does need.
...Don't tell the PLANTs she's alive. Anita's curious about that, but Riika continues. She notices the way she rests a hand on the side of her mobile suit, a brief look of sympathy crossing her face. ...She can kind of get it - she's put a lot of work into her VF. If anything happened to it...
"...Sorry. Sounds like you've been through a lot, lately." Anita says with a sympathetic murmur, massaging the back of her neck. She looks between Rena and Eight, to see how they take it.
This situation, though... What even happened...?
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"We can get you some pain medication," Rena says, after a moment's hesitation. She doesn't want to promise ibuprofin; it might need to be something else. Probably a call for the doctor.
She hesitates, though, at the request.
Her brown eyes widen, and she looks at the ruins of the GuAIZ. It is among the worst wrecks of a Mobile Suit she has seen (at least, where it was recognizable and someone survived). She shivers, before she looks back at Riika. "I'm sorry," she says.
She means it, too. She gets attached to her machines.
"ZAFT High Command turned on you? That's... that's horrible. And the Britannians..." She looks down, before she shakes her head. "I--"
She wants to promise they won't send her back. Rena starts to say that, but she stops herself, and looks at Anita, then at Eight. With their connection as Newtypes, Rena doesn't have to ask. Anita might well guess just based on her body language. But she still does ask, aloud. "We... we could let her stay here for awhile, right? We just need to--to make sure it stays quiet. We can't give her over to the Britannians, Octo."
She bites her lip. And she sounds, for a second, angry. But it's not directed at anyone here. "You heard the things they said at JOSH-A. We just... can't do that."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Space rescues do not usually go like this. "All right. I hate to make you wait in pain, but I'm not a doctor, and I don't know if it's safe yet to move you that far."
One thing...
"...We normally would," Eight says, but...
Eight looks to Rena and Anita, but truth be told, she's already made her decision. She doesn't comment on the suit; it's frankly outside what she can consider right now. Danger--
"We won't," Eight tells Rena, and then nods to Anita.
"...We're at war with ZAFT, and I'm aware that the Britannians are hunting you. ...You'll stay here until you have someplace else to go. We won't send you back against your will. If you can help us get to the bottom of what's going on, I'd appreciate it, but let me be clear:"
"We don't need payback for helping someone in need. You do what you think is right, and so will we. ...You might need to give me another name besides 'Riika Sheder' though. Either way, we'll keep you quiet, at least until you recover."
"...But I think to make the story stick we're gonna have to junk what's left of your mobile suit. Can you live with that?"
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
"A little bit," Riika agrees with Anita, though she can't bring herself to smile. "This machine... it's hard to use properly. It was just a testbed; they'd never make another, with its issues. I've spent a lot of time with it, is all."
And now it's going to get scrapped. She nods, slowly. "I don't think it's repairable. I know a lot about it, but I couldn't fix it from this..." And, honestly, she's not sure she's comfortable repairing it anywhere near the Ra Mari. She does trust Eight, given what she's already done and said; she doesn't trust Eight's bosses.
Riika doesn't get the Federation news. She looks from Anita to Rena and back. "What did they say after JOSH-A?" she asks. "I know what our people - I mean, the PLANTs are saying. It's everything you'd expect. Everybody blames everybody else. That's..."
Riika slumps again. This time she doesn't bother straightening herself up. "Something's wrong there. I owe you this much, an explanation, so I'm going to tell you." There's not many people in here, so it should be all right, but: "You might want to turn off recording. And keep it limited as to who can hear."
She doesn't speak again until someone does, or indicates they're not going to, and when she *does* speak she has a tendency to keep her voice down. "ZAFT High Command thinks I'm a traitor. One of the things I'm accused of is setting the JOSH-A bomb. But I swear it wasn't me. And - I got sent out on a scouting mission. That's why I was in the Shoal Zone, along with a squad. It should have been empty, since none of you really *defend* the uninhabited parts of the shoals, why would you? We were mapping the debris lines, and that's not exactly a high-danger activity."
"We ran into a Britannian kill team. They killed the rest of my squad. I got away, went to the backup recovery point, and that's when ZAFT was there, to... follow through with the punishment for treason." Riika blinks, bleary-eyed. Even her energy is running out.
"I think there's someone, someone in ZAFT, who's feeding them bad info. Who was involved. This all happened after I started to look into it, when I saw them. And I think I know who it is, but I don't know if I can tell you, or if it's safe to - if someone in the Britannians might find out. And that sounds so wrong! I'm sorry. I trust you, but... I need to make that decision with a clear head. Do you mind if I recover a bit, first...? If I don't, I'll get out of your hair as soon as I can."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"...That sucks. I'm sorry." Anita sympathises, as Riika comments on how she spent a lot of time with it.
As for what's going through Rena's head... Anita does have a guess. She knows Rena well enough, and her body language gives it away. ...And, honestly, that's where Anita is too, right now. Still, she appreciates that she says it out loud.
"...Yeah, I feel the same way. I'd feel bad if we just... turned her out." Anita agrees with a nod. They've taken her in - they have a responsibility to her now, she feels. But fortunately, Eight agrees, responding in a manner befitting a proper Captain. Anita smiles, visibly relieved - though she did trust her from the beginning.
She looks back to Riika, then, as she continues.
"...Yeah, it's been about the same over here, too." She says, of what the Federation's been saying about JOSH-A. "Don't worry. I don't think it was you."
Riika explains what happened, then - first a Britannian kill team, and then her own people... Anita shakes her head in disbelief.
"That's... Ugh, that's awful. I'm apologizing a lot, but... I'm really sorry this happened. No one should have to go through that." She says, and then frowns. ...Sounds like a cover-up. She looks toward Rena and Eight, then, as Riika asks if they mind if she recovers first. It isn't her call if Riika gets the chance to rest first, but she knows what her vote would be.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Thanks, Octo," Rena says, with a small smile. She nods, though; they will need to get a false identity for Riika. Especially given what Riika is saying.
She glances between Anita and Riika. If anyone would get attachment to a machine, it would be Anita, Rena thinks. Of course, Anita is a bit of a special case.
Her expression darkens at the mention of JOSH-A.
"It was... um... during the battle at JOSH-A. The Britannian commander there, he was railing against Coordinators, to try to rile us up." Rena looks uncomfortable saying it, but there is more than that there. She looks tense, like it hit home for some reason. "And to get us to hold the line and stay, but..."
She quiets -- and glances at Eight, until the order is given.
She looks at Riika, then, and her eyes widen. "They--they said you did that? But--that's absurd! You warned everyone, to get us out," she says, her voice quiet. "And then... the Britannians came?"
She looks at Anita, sharing the same thought. Could they have coordinated? But, they're supposed to be enemies. Rena's eyes narrow, as she tries to work through it. They might have stumbled onto a conspiracy.
"I don't mind," she says. "You need to have someone look at that hand, too. And... we can talk more, later, after you've rested and made a decision."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Frankly, Eight feels the same way; she's not in this to get new weapons for the Federation. They have enough of those.
Eight just nods to the hanks from her pilots; she is doing what she thinks is right, like she said. But...
When Riika suggests turning off recording and limiting earshot, Eight says, "Recording's already mysteriously on the fritz. ...But I can have the technicians go work on something else a minute."
"Take your time," Eight decides, as to a 'clear head.' "The doctor should be here any minute. Focus on getting ready; I'll get you some quarters in the meantime."
"...I think we're onto something important," Captain York says. "And it's bigger than any one of us. ...My condolences about your squad. But rest now, and we'll talk when you feel more recovered."
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
"I did. The accusation was that I delayed long enough to cause more fatalities, but early enough that it would redirect suspicion." Riika...
She can't even get mad right now. She doesn't even have the energy, and nobody involved is here anyway. Getting mad *now* wouldn't mean anything.
But about the conspiracy, that she is coming around on. She doesn't know anything. But something isn't right. Someone is using ZAFT, for reasons she doesn't know; whether they are using anyone else, she couldn't tell. She's spent almost no time outside the PLANTs, and doesn't know as much about the Federation military.
"I agree," she says, after Captain York speaks. "...Thank you. I want to find out what happened, for them as much as anyone, but I think I do need to rest before I do anything else. I haven't slept in..." Ugh. "Like a day and a half. Two days, maybe. Couldn't sleep when I was waiting to see if the beacon I rigged up worked..."
She trails off. "Thank you. It will be soon, I think."